Fishing is a gathering skill which involves catching fish. Higher Fishing levels allow for the utilisation of different mechanisms of Fishing as well as the ability to catch a larger selection of fish. Caught fish may be cooked through the Cooking skill to create food which may be used to regain health during combat. The current minimum requirement to be ranked (at approximately rank 1,130,760) on the hiscores for Fishing is level 15. As of 16 August 2018, there are 150,857 current members that have achieved level 99 in Fishing. There are 8,402 current members that have achieved level 120 in Fishing.

Equipment

Players need certain types of equipment depending on what fish they want to catch.

Net Fishing/Crayfish cage

A player fishing with a small net.

The first few fish players can catch require nets, except for crayfish, which require a crayfish cage. Fishing nets can only be used in the seas. Free players can only use small fishing nets while members can also use big fishing nets. The big nets allow players to catch different, higher-level fish and sometimes items such as boots, seaweed, or caskets. When a player has found a fishing spot, they can then use their net if the option 'net fishing spot' is available.

Fishing rods and bait fishing

A player fishing with a rod.

Fishing rods are required to fish for many mid-level fish. Fishing rods can be used in both rivers and seas. Along with a fishing rod, players also need fishing bait (or living minerals if they fish rocktail) to attract fish. Bait can be bought in stores (3gp each at Port Sarim fishing shop), but they can also be obtained by some monsters. When a player has found a fishing spot, they can then use their fishing rod if the option 'bait fishing spot' is available. For every fish you catch, you lose one piece of bait. They are used to catch lots of different fish, including sardines, herring, pike and more.
There is also another type of rod, the oily fishing rod. However, only members can use this rod. It is required to fish lava eels and is needed in the Heroes' Quest.

Another rod is the barbarian rod, which is used to catch leaping trout, leaping salmon, and leaping sturgeon, during and after Barbarian training.

Fly fishing rods and feathers - Lure fishing

Fly fishing is also required to fish for certain mid-level fish, which are caught in rivers. Along with a fly fishing rod, players also need feathers to attract fish. Feathers can be bought on the Grand Exchange for 13 coins each. If a player wishes to get the feathers cheap they are sold in fishing stores at a price of 6gp each. However, each fishing store only has 1000 feathers at a time. Feathers are also often dropped by chickens and occasionally chompy birds. When a player has found a fishing spot, they can then use their fly fishing rod if the option 'lure fishing spot' is available. Each fish caught uses one feather. Coloured feathers from hunting can be used with fly fishing, with the exception of the stripy feather, which can be used to yield rainbow fish at level 38, rather than the usual trout and salmon. If you have both types of feathers in your inventory, you will be asked which feathers you would like to use.

Options to fish tuna/swordfish or lobsters.

Fly Fishing in places like Shilo Village or Gunnarsgrunn is thought of as the quickest possible fishing experience. However, if you want to bank your fish, you can fish in Lumbridge.

Some players, P2P or F2P, believe that fly fishing/lure fishing is the most effective way to level up, allowing players to catch constant trout (50 experience) or Salmon (70 experience).Once at a full inventory many players choose to bank their inventories either for selling purposes or even for levelling other skills such as cooking. Others may choose to drop their inventories, shortening the levelling time. With the introduction of the action bar it allowed players to drop their inventories much quicker than previous methods. 1,000 experience - 1,750 experience can be made per inventory of fish. Fly fishing takes less focus, meaning players can go AFK (away from keyboard) whilst their inventory fills. Players must also be aware that fishing spots can run out and may have to move on to the next.

Players who prefer to drop their inventories may choose quieter fishing locations such as North of West Ardougne (north west of combat training camp) on this small quiet river, 4 small fishing spots are available. Moss giants are nearby and will attack when passed with a low combat level. Or between the Observatory and Tree Gnome Village. Ogres may be passed if teleporting to Yanille Lodestone, and may attack. Other spots include East of Barbarian Village or the River Lum.

Harpoons

A player fishing with a harpoon.

Harpoons are required for catching some larger medium to high level fish: Mainly tuna, swordfish and sharks. They can only be used in the sea. When a player has found a fishing spot, they can then use their harpoon if the option Harpoon Fishing spot is available.

The ratio of tuna:swordfish when catching these with a harpoon is approximately 5:4. This means catching 5,000 tuna will get you about 4,000 swordfish.

There are three types of harpoons - the (regular) harpoon, the barb-tail harpoon, and the sacred clay harpoon. The barb-tail harpoon and sacred clay harpoon can be wielded; the (regular) harpoon cannot. The barb-tail harpoon differs in the fact it can be equipped, while the sacred clay harpoon gives double the experience per fish in addition to being wieldable. However due to the introduction of the tool belt you no longer have to worry about most fishing equipment like that of the harpoon taking up an inventory slot.

After being taught by Otto Godblessed, a player can catch fish that are harpoon-able with their bare hands. Levels required are 20 levels higher and they also require a Strength level; but doing so grants very little Strength experience. A regular harpoon can be stored in the tool belt, thus it is no longer a disadvantage having a non-wieldable harpoon. It is exactly the same rate of fish as just normal harpooning.

If the player wishes to force the game to use a harpoon to catch these fish, wielding a barb-tail harpoon will cause the player to harpoon in the regular style.

Cages

A player fishing with a lobster cage.

Lobsters are caught in the sea, using lobster pots. When a player has found a fishing spot, they can then use their lobster cage if the option 'cage fishing spot' is available, though lobsters take a bit longer to catch than other fish. Lobster is highly recommended for fishing levels 60 to 99 for non-members. A popular cage spot is in Karamja. This is due to Stiles, who changes tuna, swordfish or lobster into notes (both raw and cooked), being just south of the Karamja volcano. An alternative mode of banking would be to use the Port Sarim lodestone, Entrana deposit box, then return via ship to Musa Point; the entire trip takes fewer clicks, and less time, than a trip to see Stiles.

Barbarian Fishing

Members with a Fishing level of at least 48, an Agility level of 15, and a Strength level of at least 35 can speak with Otto Godblessed in his home near Baxtorian Falls to learn special barbarian methods of fishing. First, he instructs the player on heavy rod fishing. Heavy rod fishing requires a barbarian rod (found under Otto's bed) and any type of bait, as well as a knife to gut the fish. In order to catch the special fish in Otto's lake, a Strength and Agility level is needed in addition to the fishing requirement. The leaping fish obtained can be used with a knife to obtain roe and caviar for use in Herblore skill, and catching them gives small amounts of experience in strength and agility.

After this, the player can learn how to fish tuna, swordfish, and sharks without a harpoon. Using this method requires a higher Fishing level as well as a Strength level equivalent to the Fishing level needed to catch the fish normally. However, it provides small amounts of Strength experience.

Fishing Trawler

Fishing Trawler is a fishing minigame run by Murphy that players can play at Port Khazard. Players need at least a minimum of level 15 fishing to participate. Players board a trawler boat and work as a team to prevent the boat from sinking as they are sailed for 12 minutes around the sea. It can be overwhelming for a single player, so it is recommended to bring friends, a clan, or other experienced fishers. Fishing Trawler was released 28 July 2003. Currently, world 116 is the RuneScape designated Trawler world. At the end of every trip, you get a load of fish and other assorted items (i.e. rusty swords) the Fishing Trawler is the only event to give tiger sharks.

Fish Flingers

Fish Flingers is a Distraction and Diversion released 23 March 2010. Games are scheduled every 20 minutes and last for 10 minutes. Fishermen stands in the most popular fishing spots all the time and can teleport players to the game location. For three minutes before the game starts, they will shout out periodically. Games are a solo, non-competitive minigame, although players frequently cooperate. Rewards are experience, fish, and tackle boxes, as well as pieces of the Fishing Outfit which gives up to 5% bonus experience when fishing.

Fishing and Summoning

The members-only Summoning skill provides some very useful benefits to fishing, in particular when fishing sharks or monkfish. Familiars are indispensable because they can forage fish for you on their own while you fish. Not only does this give you additional fish to sell or cook, but you will gain a portion of the experience for each catch. Plus, they will give your fishing an invisible boost that improves your catch rate slightly. There are three familiars that help with fishing.

Fishing and Agility

As of the 19 January 2010 update, there is a chance of receiving bonus tuna, swordfish, and shark when players have a high enough Agility level. The chance of getting a bonus fish increases as Agility increases, up to a limit where the chances do not continue to increase (shown in the table below). For example, at 70 Agility, players have achieved the maximum chance of catching two tuna at one time. At 71, there is no increased chance than at 70. The bonus applies to barehanded fishing, as well. Players do not receive additional experience for gaining bonus fish.

Types of fish

There is a large variety of fish that can be caught. When a player catches a fish, it will be raw and cannot be eaten but can be fed to certain pets, such as cats or kittens until it is cooked. The name and colour indicates this. For example, when shrimps are first caught they are called "raw shrimp", but once cooked the name changes to "shrimp".

Training

Making Money

Players need food to heal, thus making food (particularly fish) a market with massive demand. It is recommended that players do not sell their fish to general stores or fish stores, but instead sell them to other players. The Grand Exchange or the RuneScape Forums are the best places to sell fish

Raw fish tend to fetch higher prices than cooked fish, due to the high demand of players who want to train Cooking. Therefore, it is recommended that you should leave your fish raw if you want to gain maximum profit.

The fish most commonly caught for profit are lobsters (less commonly now as the prices have crashed due to massive amounts of lobsters being sold at minimum price) and swordfish for free players. Sharks and monkfish are better choices for members. Due to an update, fishing rocktail and cavefish is also very profitable and also offers better experience than the commonly fished Sharks.

With a full Shark outfit worn, a fishing animation is used where the player bends down to the water to grab the fish in their teeth. The shark head must be visible for the animation to trigger.

Prestiging an aquarium by pulling the plug allows the player to toggle a fishing animation where any fish caught are coloured silver or gold, after first and second prestige respectively. The animations may be toggled from the Prawnbroker.